SPA Modeler

Well since we have no ship WIPs, I guess I will start one. This is the old Monogram box scale (roughly 1/300) USS Ramsey. Originally classified as a Destroyer Escort Guided Missile (DEG), her class was later reclassified as Frigate, Guided Missile (FFG). Anyways I am improving this old kit with some Gold Medal Modelworks Photo Etch, plus what I can scratch up to improve the general appearance of this old kit. (BTW, this build has been sidleined for a few years, mainly due to a couple of moves, but I feel the urge to complete her soon)

So the first thing I did was add the bow sonar dome. There was quite a gap there afterwards so I filled it with some styrene shims and sanded them smooth.

Now I have the 1977 edition of "Ships and Aircraft of the US Fleet" as my primary reference, so using that I saw that the main radar was incorrect in the kit.. I ditched the kit piece and from various photos, I scratched up a SPS-52 radar using sheet styrene and some mesh from a Starbucks Green Tea bag for the texture

Then I built the Mack assembly (Mast & Stack), but the kit really simplified that compared to my references


so I began to do correction work
I drilled out the stack exhausts and added some aluminum tubing in their place

the top yardarms were orginally oriented for and aft, so I had to cut it off and change it to port/starboard, and add a small cap at the top. And I added the SPS-10 surface search radar from my GMM PE set, and various bits of PE that should be there according to me references.

Then I did some basic painting to the hull and superstructure- Hull Red and Black for the lower hull and Boot Topping, Neutral Gray for Haze Gray, and Gunship Gray for Deck Gray. I was told those were close if not equivalent to the USN colors.

Then I began cutting off molded on ladders and replacing them with PE ladders

Stik, thanks for making a lead into this chapter by starting the first ship WIP! Well, someone has to be the first!

What date is this kit? According to the box this was issued the first time in the 70´s? Two sprues and the hull? Maybe a good kit for a beginner, even when adding PE parts.

What glue do you use to get those tiny parts on?

Thomas, the instruction sheet is copyrighted 1973. And I am not sure if that is the original issue of this kit. There is also a kit of the lead ship in the class, USS Brooke. It may be a few years older. Yes It is really a great kit for the beginner, quite simple as a matter of fact. And that is why I chose it to be my first ship kit to try PE with.
I used Gator Glue to add all the PE. An acrylic glue very similar to Elmers White Glue in its' usage. I had heard good things about Gator Glue from fellow members of IPMS and AMPS at meetings of those clubs.

Posted about half an hour ago:
http://www.spamodeler.com/forum/viewtop ... 2082#p2082

Man that's a lot of PE!!

It's looking great Stik!